Camp caters for all common known dietary issues but the following must be accepted by any applicant with a special issue:
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It is the responsibility of the applicant to make sure to communicate their dietary needs BEFORE they come to camp.
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Food allergies will be passed on to the kitchen and they will cater for them. Although mistakes are very rare, ultimately, as an adult, it is the responsibility of the individual staff member to double-check any meal they are unsure about and make sure it for certain doesn’t contain something they can’t eat. Welfare Coordinators can provide assistance with communication with kitchen staff if this is needed.
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All types of vegetarians are catered for and daily vegetarian meals are provided. However all vegetarians must understand that at times the variety of these meals could be limited, especially if they do not eat fish, and also that Spanish kitchens are not very accustomed to catering to vegetarians so at times different standards to Anglo-Saxon countries may exist. We ask that you bear this in mind before coming to camp and constructively raise any issue through your Welfare Coordinator whilst on camp. We also do not recommend camp for anyone who is a full vegan as although we will do our best to cater for their needs it is unlikely for obvious reasons that we will be able to do so to the level they expect.
Camp cuisine is exactly what you would expect, food cooked on mass for sometimes up to 300 people in four daily turns. We place great importance on providing a healthy balanced Spanish diet but of course with mass produced food this is not always easy to achieve despite all our best intentions and also naturally each individual anyway will have different opinions on what they like and at times on what is healthy. We ask that each staff member bear this fact in mind and remember that working in the camp kitchen is no easier than working with children and to remember that the best solutions to any problems always come through understanding and working together and not through just demanding and expecting. We also ask that staff unfamiliar with Spanish diet bear the following in mind:
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It contains quite a bit of fried food, more than most non-Latin countries, but also on the other side usually has less packaged food on the menus.
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Generally there are less green vegetables but on the other side salad is a part of almost every meal and legumes are a frequent part of meals.
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It tends to have a lot of nutritious soups and stews which are often the main part of a meal so don’t forget to eat them.
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Usually the breakfasts are simple affairs (many Northern Europeans can be disappointed by this), lunch is a grand meal and dinners also still quite substantial. Meal times are also usually later than most countries.
Please bear in mind on arrival to camp to check the kitchen is aware of any dietary issues you may have. The way to do this is to inform your age group’s or camp’s welfare coordinator or the person in your camp responsible for that area.
We ask that all staff raise any issue with food in an understanding and constructive way with their manager, never forgetting that canteen food will never be like home-cooking for one.